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Annual Report on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project for Water Year 2020

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Annual Report on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project for Water Year 2020 Annual Report on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project for Water Year 2020 Central Valley Project, California California-Great Basin Region U.S. Department of the Interior December 2020 Mission Statements The Department of the Interior (DOI) conserves and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people, provides scientific and other information about natural resources and natural hazards to address societal challenges and create opportunities for the American people, and honors the Nation’s trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities to help them prosper. The mission of the Bureau of Reclamation is to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public. Annual Report on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project for Water Year 2020 Central Valley Project, California California-Great Basin Region prepared by Bureau of Reclamation Bay-Delta Office 801 “I” Street, Suite 140 Sacramento, CA 95814 Bureau of Reclamation Central Valley Operations Office 3310 El Camino Avenue, Suite 300 Sacramento CA 95821 in coordination with California Department of Water Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife Cover Photo: Shasta Dam (Photo credit: Reclamation) Contents Contents ................................................................................................................................................. iii Appendices ............................................................................................................................................. iii Figures .................................................................................................................................................... iii Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Upper Sacramento River ....................................................................................................................... 2 Clear Creek ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Feather River ........................................................................................................................................ 13 American River ..................................................................................................................................... 14 Delta ................................................................................................................................................... 18 Stanislaus River ..................................................................................................................................... 34 San Joaquin River ................................................................................................................................. 39 Additional Actions and RPMs ........................................................................................................... 40 Appendices A Shasta Cold Water Pool Management Seasonal Report B Battle Creek Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Project C Clear Creek Technical Team Summary of Activities for Water Year 2020 D American River Group Summary of Activities for Water Year 2020 E OMR Flow Management Seasonal Report F Tracy Fish Collection Facility Standard Operating Procedures G Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility Standard Operating Procedures H Incidental Take Report I Delta Smelt Summer Fall Habitat Seasonal Report for Water Year 2020 J Water Transfers K Clifton Court Forebay Listed Species Captured and Released L Stanislaus River Summary of Activities for Water Year 2020 Figures Figure 1. Upper Sacramento River System. ....................................................................................... 3 Figure 2. Newly constructed channel as part of Phase 3C ............................................................ 10 Figure 3. Sailor Bar on the lower American River during 2019-20 steelhead redd survey ....... 14 Figure 4. Map of the Delta with CVP and SWP Infrastructure. ................................................... 19 Figure 5. Salmonid spawning gravel injection project at the Goodwin Dam Recreation Area on the Stanislaus River ........................................................................................................................ 35 Figure 6. Water temperatures at OBB from 2001 to 2021 during the December 1 through May 31 time period. ............................................................................................................................. 37 Figure 7. Water temperatures at OBB during WY 2020 and daily water temperatures that exceeded 54° F (in orange). ................................................................................................................ 37 Figure 8. San Joaquin River ................................................................................................................ 39 iii Introduction This Annual Report for Water Year (WY) 2020 fulfills the annual reporting for the Long-Term Operation (LTO) of the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) implemented through Reclamation’s Record of Decision (ROD), dated February 19, 2020. The ROD implements Alternative 1 (Preferred Alternative) as described in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Alternative 1 was the Proposed Action consulted upon and analyzed in the Biological Opinions issued in October 2019 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The Proposed Action included significant commitments to improved coordinated operations with DWR to meet Endangered Species Act (ESA) requirements for Delta Smelt, Southern distinct population segment (sDPS) of North American green sturgeon, California Central Valley (CCV) steelhead, Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon and Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon and their habitats (collectively, “listed species”), as well as other fish and wildlife species in the project area. While the WY starts October 1 and ends September 30, the ROD was signed in February 2020. Therefore, this first Annual Report reports on operations since February 2020. As such, some seasonal operations have not completed a full season of operation. This Annual Report includes conclusion sections that identify relevant clarifications that were necessary and, when applicable, recommendations to improve implementation of the Proposed Action. Individual operational components of the Proposed Action that require substantial real-time are described in “seasonal reports” that are referenced within this document. Background The Proposed Action included operations, monitoring, habitat and facility improvements, intervention, and special studies. Some of these actions were proposed at a site-specific or a programmatic level. Reclamation included conservation measures in the Proposed Action, that were adopted in the ROD, to avoid and minimize or compensate for CVP and SWP project effects, including take, on listed species as well as contribute to the recovery and enhancement of species and their habitats. These measures may also improve production, growth, and survival of listed species. Conservation measures and their status are described in the applicable sections below. In the Proposed Action, Reclamation committed to review by an independent panel to ensure that performance occurs as expected. The panel will review and recommend alternative steps if the objectives, such as exceedance of a single-year threshold or 50 percent of the cumulative loss threshold, are not being met. An independent panel may also be convened if determined by the hindcast analyses. Reclamation also committed in the Proposed Action to review the implementation of the proposed action at four year intervals (i.e., 2024 and 2028) through an independent panel of experts to review the Upper Sacramento River Performance Metrics; Old and Middle Rivers management and measures to improve survival through the south Delta and Delta Smelt Summer-Fall Habitat Actions. In 2020, Reclamation, NMFS, USFWS, CDFW, and DWR worked together on the development of flow guidance documents for assisting agency staff in implementing flow provisions that require collaboration and charters for assisting agency staff in implementing non-flow projects. These documents are “living” documents subject to change, as necessary, in coordination with the multi-agency implementation teams. 1 The latest flow guidance documents are included as attachments to seasonal reports that describe specific components of the Proposed Action. This Annual Report describes compliance with the Incidental Take Statements (ITS) and the Reasonable and Prudent Measures (RPMs) of the 2019 NMFS and USFWS Biological Opinions. The RPMs, and associated Terms and Conditions, were included in the 2019 NMFS and USFWS Biological Opinions to minimize incidental take of listed species. Conservation Recommendations Section 7(a)(1) of the ESA directs Federal agencies to use their authorities to further the purposes of the ESA by carrying out conservation programs for the benefit
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